By any other name: idiosyncratic spelling of monikers, feminists hyphenating their married names, and countries with new appellations are all part of today's name game

AS A KID, OR PERHAPS AS YOU got older, did you ever think about whether your first name was right for you? Did you ever wish your parents would have given you a name more virile if you were a boy or more romantic if you were a girl? As an example, the story is told of a woman who was unhappy with her moniker, which was Mary Womanjawski. She went before a judge to have it changed and the judge asked what she wanted her new name to be. "Jane," she replied.

An early instance of name-changing was recorded in the New Testament when Saul, the persecutor of Christians, became a convert and subsequently was known as Paul. Name changhig can be tough on record keeping, as single women who marry can tell you. Some married females choose not to alter their maiden name in our age of women's consciousness and run into trouble, as did Hillary when Bill Clinton held the highest office in Arkansas, and Arkansawans did not like the Governor's wife using her maiden name of Rodham. Others incorporate their former last name as a middle name so as to keep a semblance of personal identity.

Movie stars long have been renamed by their studios to one that was more visually attractive, or which sounded better, for the roles they play. How would Marion Michael Morrison ever present the tough guy image of John Wayne, the most successful cowboy movie star in Hollywood? Moreover, could Norma Jean Baker have the sex appeal of Marilyn Monroe? Singer John Denver, who died in a tragic plane crash some time ago, wanted to identify with the West and country style music and knew that his real name, Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., simply wouldn't do, and so wound up with a simple moniker that seemed just right lot him. Lana Turner was an exception in the old days and kept her last name of Turner. Her Christian name of Julia, however, was thrown to the winds.

Sports figures often followed suit, with Cassius Clay essentially leading the movement with his new appellation of Mohammed Ali. So, too, Lou Alcinder, another convert to Islam, renamed himself Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He may have been happy with that change, but I am sure basketball announcers had to practice pronouncing that name so that it would roll trippingly off the tongue in their game broadcasting.

Editors sometimes have to be careful to spell someone's name not the standard way, but in the idiosyncratic manner the person desires. Caitlin, a popular girl's name, has been spelled Catlyn, which perhaps looks more sophisticated, or Katlin, which seems to convey a foreign mystique. My own granddaughter; whose name is Jessica, varies her name to Jesica, Jess, Jesse, and Jesie just for the fun of it, she tells me.

A novel choice for a name, published in the Birth Column of a newspaper, was a baby girl, Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backward. African-Americans especially love to create their own names. instead of using the common Christian ones.

The American Indians were given names by white men quite different from what they called themselves. Although there are a variety of interpretations, many, such as the Navajo, Apache, Cheyenne, and Nez Perce called themselves The People--in effect, the Chosen Ones. Individuals changed their names several times. When having performed a particularly heroic act, they would be named after that act. A Sioux might be designated "Pawnee Killer" if he inflicted a mortal wound on one. If one was lucky in hunting Buffalo, he might be designated "Buffalo Man." Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Sioux Medicine Chief, earlier was known as Four Horns.

The names we give our pets in personalizing them remain fairly constant. Lassie (who should have been named Laddie, as she was a he) and Rin Tin Tin were beloved by all who went to their movies. As the saying has goes, "It's tough to follow a dog act." Buck, King, Rex (the Latinized version of King), Pal, Spot, and other names ranging all the way to Bowser have been foisted on dogs. Since many owners compliment their canines when the dogs follow training rules with an "Atta Boy!" one dog food manufactured named its brand just that. Interestingly enough, in the movie, "Hondo," John Wayne simply called his dog, Dog. Cats, as befits their imperial nature, have names such as Princess, Duchess, Cleopatra, and Queenie. A man might name his cat Mouser, but women would consider that barbaric.

Cities and countries have changed names with great frequency. Yerba Buena now is known as San Francisco and the railroad town of Edmonton in the Dakota Territory became Bismarck, in the hope that it might attract German farmers. (Of course, there still is the city of Edmonton in Canada.) In Russia, Leningrad, which has switched around several times, now is St. Petersburg. Czechoslovakia was partitioned in two--the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Constantinople is better known today as Istanbul and Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City. Bombay has become Mumbai and Peking currently is designated Beijing. Countries, seeking to separate themselves from colonial days, have made it difficult for mapmakers to stay abreast of the times. Ceylon is Sri Lanka; Burma is Myanmar; and Siam is Thailand. Fonnosa became Taiwan. Persia is Iran and Mesopotamia became Iraq. Nippon is better recognized as Japan. The former Dutch East Indies today constitutes Indonesia. Africa has undergone the most confusing alterations. The Upper Volta, of which Ouagadougou is the capital, changed its designation to Burkina Faso. What formerly was Rhodesia at present is Zimbabwe while Bechuanaland became Botswana. Belgium Congo became Zaire and now is the Congo Republic. German West Africa is Namibia. British Honduras altered its name to Belize. The staid British Empire has become the British Commonwealth.